Montana mortgage servicer bonds.
From $100.

What the bond actually guarantees

A mortgage servicer under the Montana Mortgage Act is an entity that collects scheduled payments from a borrower under the terms of a residential mortgage loan, meets the federal servicer definition in 12 U.S.C. 2605(i)(2), or holds itself out as able to do so — and on a reverse mortgage, an entity making payments to the borrower. Licensing sits with the Department of Administration acting through its Division of Banking and Financial Institutions.

MCA 32-9-123 requires a surety bond running to the state of Montana as obligee, running first to the benefit of the borrower and then to the state and anyone who suffers loss from a violation of the Act or its rules. Subsection (2)(c) sizes it by the servicer's total unpaid principal balance of residential mortgage loans as of December 31: $75,000 up to $25 million, $150,000 above $25 million through $100 million, $250,000 above $100 million through $500 million, and $350,000 above $500 million.

It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The bond is filed and maintained through NMLS, the licensee notifies the department through NMLS within 15 days of an action or judgment against the bond, and a surety cannot cancel without 30 days' notice to the department. Because the tier is measured each December 31, portfolio growth can raise the required amount at renewal — we track the term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.

You need this bond if you're